Portable devices are being designed for supporting high quality video playback. High quality video playback on portable devices is in high demand. Devices such as personal digital assistants and web-browsing cellular telephones are being used for accessing and playing back video files. Graphics controllers are being integrated into portable devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and web-capable mobile phones, for decoding and playing video data, such as Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) video data. The graphics controllers are capable of providing full motion video playback on the displays generally integrated within the portable devices.
Support for remote displays, external to the portable device, is also in demand. Portable devices with support for remote displays can be used to provide a slide presentation on a projector or computer screen. Two graphics controllers are generally used, a first graphics controller for video playback and a second graphics controller for a remote display. Additional memory is generally needed to support both graphics controllers.
Using multiple decoders for supporting video playback and an external display is expensive to integrate into a portable device. The additional components for supporting both video playback and an external display take up space within the portable device; however, space within the potable device is limited due to requirements to keep the device portable. Portable devices are generally desired to consume as little power as necessary; however, the additional components integrated within the device consume additional power and reduce the amount of time the portable device can last on a single set of power cells.
From the above discussion, it is apparent that an improved method of providing video support and external display support is needed.